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It took over 30 years — a long testing time for a human. But after the endless, purging pain came the healing love and the rewards of glory: the filling with the breath of God at Pentecost, the tongues of fire, telling both heat and light. That is what happens when any of us says yes to God, as Mary did.

… because eternity

was closeted in time

 he is my open door

to forever.

From his imprisonment

my freedoms grow,

find wings.

Part of his body, I transcend this flesh.

From his sweet silence my mouth sings.

Out of his dark I glow.

Luci Shaw is the author of nine volumes of poetry including What the Light Was Like  (WordFarm, 2006), Accompanied by Angels, (Eerdmans, 2006) The Genesis of It All (Paraclete, 2006) and the non-fiction prose book The Crime of Living Cautiously (IVP, 2005). She is Writer in Residence at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C.

Other Christianity Today articles on Mary include:

The Mary We Never Knew | Why the mother of Jesus was more revolutionary than we've been led to believe. (November 28, 2006)

The Blessed Evangelical Mary | Why we shouldn't ignore her any longer. (December 1, 2003)

The 'Assumed' Fate of Jesus' Mother | Roman Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Assumption on Sunday. What's "up" with that? (Aug. 13, 2004)

The Serene Contradiction of the Mother of Jesus | Why I reclaimed the virgin mother as a significant figure in my faith (December 1, 2002)

There's Something About Mary | Beliefs about Jesus' virgin mother vary between Christians of the early church, Roman Catholics, and modern-day Protestants, but this model of total trustful devotion has lessons to teach all Christians. (December 1, 2002)

His Mother | Learning from Mary, the maternal model. (May 12, 2000)

Christian History and Biography Issue 83 includes Mary in the Imagination of the Church, Recovering a Protestant Mary, and several other articles on Mary.

Christianity Today reviewed one of Luci Shaw's newest book of poems, What The Light Was Like. Her other recent books include Accompanied by Angels, (Eerdmans, 2006) The Genesis of It All (Paraclete, 2006) and the non-fiction prose book The Crime of Living Cautiously (IVP, 2005).

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December (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50